Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1887-06-22
A GREAT DAT SWTNDLE.
The Cumberland Valley Raided by a Gang
OfIngenious Sharpers

pDl6 HrSSS from CATI1Sle says: This
county OF Cumberland and the adj
Joining counties of Franklin and Ad-
ans are all greatly excited by the sue
| cess OF the Bohemian Oat 5Windle.
The sharpers, who have already ope-
| rated with success in other parts OF
Pennsylvania, notably Berks County,
first began their raid on the farmers
purses in Ohio. They were driven
out Of that state by newspaper expo
sures and by the denunciations of the
Ohio grange. They openly boast.
however, that they have never found
region SO easily MIXED Of cash as
the Cumberland Valley, and they de-
clare that they will defy the law and
carry out their plans elsewhere in
Pennsylvania when they have finished
| here.
in brief, the mode of procedure of
| the Oat sharks is as follows: They
carefully select q itch farmer of inhu-
ence among his neighbors. With oily
speeches and willy tongues they offer
to sell him ten bushels of seed oats of
an alleged marvellous quality at $1Oa
| bushel. The farmer is astonished at
such price, since the best price for oats
cents O. bushel. The swindler, how
ever, expla ms that if he will buy these
ten bushels and SOW them he can sell
twenty bushels Of the yield at $40 a
bushel Or even the entire crop BIT Sc
q bushel. The swindler draws up a
contract binding himself to do so.
The farmer sees a big profit in such g.
contract as this and consents. He
gives the swindler his note for 500
and sows the ten bushels of oats. The
swindler has no difficulty in gettin
the farmers note discounted. Then
he works another leading farmer IN
another township in the same way,
and continues until he has captured a
goodly sprinkling of prominent men
through the county.
OF course the oat-seller has already
reaped big Doodle, but ne does not
stop here. Away he HES, presumably
to the city, to enjoy himself after the
fashion OF his kind. In the fall, when
the oats are harvested, back he comes.
He proposes to fulfill his contracts,
and he does it. The first farmers are
delighted. They tell all their neigh
bors of this new and marvellous way
Of making fortune by selling oats at
$40 a bushel. In this way the
swindler is easily able to buy all the
crops of his first victims and sell them
over again in small lots for seed to the
neighbors. For doing this he charges
the first farmers 20 per cent. commits
sion. Thus, the first farmer gets back
his original 500, in the form of q
neighbours note payable to himself,
and another note for 500 less $25
cash which he pays to the swindler.
When the third year comes the swind-
Ter does not appear, and his contracts
to buy the crops at fancy prices are
dishonored.
This method has several variations,
but the above is the general plan.
The oat sharks began their operations
IN the Cumberland Valley in the fall
of 1885.
They followed up their scheme in
1886, and by this time it is estimated
that they have taken out of the three
This means that the business has
been paralyzed throughout the valley;
that collections of all kinds are slow
and difficult and that the coming fall
will see wide spread distress and many
CSS0S Cl 6DeOluC6 Fulu.
Some of the oat-swindlers are still
here. Their names are James Boyd,
who leads the gang; G. E. KNIT w, l..
Rogers, George E. Bailey, and Henry
Roller. They are just now turning
their harvest OF notes into cash, giving
the enormous discount of 40 or so
per cent.
The Carlisle banks have refused to
discount these notes because,
although perfectly good and gwen by
farmers OF property, the bank direc-
tors decided that they were obtained
by fraud. Consequently the swindlers
are exchanging the notes for horses or
almost anything else that can be
turned into cash.
For months these men have been
shocking the town by their wild orgies.
They dress extensively, put up at the
best hotels, and display large rolls OF
bills at the bars, which they literally
patronize. Pi.tols are fired out OF the
windows, fashily dressed women
brought here by them parade the
streets, and generally the gang con-
duct themselves in fashion to out
rage the sense of propriety of all the
better classes. They are reported to
gamble, and are accused by rumor OF
other crimes even worse. Boyd, the
leader of the crowd, has worn long,
black beard, but recently had this cut
off, it is supposed, for the purpose of
assuming another name and identity
when he leads a raid in another re-
gion.
The valley is flooded with the farm
ers' notes, which have resulted from
the dealings in common oats at fabu-
lous prices. These notes have been
hawked all about the country, and
when they fall due many of them will
be disputed and much litigation will
result The makers of the notes will
claim that they were obtained by
fraud and that the present holders
bought them with that knowledge.
Unless the swindlers cease further
operations and leave the region the
district attorney of Cumberland
County will hunt for grounds OF pros
cont;an